Fancy Jello Salad…Strawberry Pretzel Salad has been called retro. However, this recipe had been around for several decades and never seems to go out of style.
I originally wrote this during the summer for a summer holiday meal. Truth is, we always have it for Thanksgiving! Yes, Thanksgiving! It’s a salty sweet dish. Salty for the pretzels, sweet for the cream cheese and jello layer. Yum!
Don’t forget making tis for summer time too!
We all know the meal is an integral part of happy occasions. We have some dishes our family serves at certain holidays. Strawberry Pretzel Salad is one of those.
Is it really a salad you maybe asking. Yes, this is a salad. Some folks claim it as a dessert. Hey, I’m from the south and we claim jello as a salad. This one is a fancy jello salad. It does not go on the dessert table. Honestly, I have never seen it served as a dessert. I have seen grown men and women fight over the last square but not for dessert.
Here’s the rule for jello. Add some fruit before the jello sets; it’s a salad.
Add some whipped cream and it’s a dessert.
One thing we southerners can do is make great food especially desserts. We can laugh too at our ways including making jello salad.
It is a seasonal dish for summertime; sweet fresh strawberries with crushed pretzel crust and a cream chesse layer.
It’s a meal for Thanksgiving. It’s delicious and adds color to the buffet table.
Last year Amy and Meg set the menu with strawberry pretzel salad along with Rosemary’s Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes. Check her recipe out; it is very, very good.
Grandpa’s Hash Brown Potato Casserole is another favorite.
I’ll add green salad with some arugula and spinach from the garden. Grilling steaks was the main dish. Sounds good for this year too!
One thing we southerners can do it make great food especially desserts and laugh at our ways including making jello salad. We serve it during the summer with fresh strawberries and on Thanksgiving too.
I kind of panicked one year when we were back in the states over Thanksgiving. Will ‘s only request was Strawberry Pretzel Salad and I couldn’t find my recipe! Frankly, after all the moves, I have lost a few. My cousin, Rosemary came to my rescue. Whew!
Our daughter in law Jessica was assigned the job of making THE Strawberry Pretzel Salad. It ranks right up there on importance to serve with pies. Later she told us she was really feeling the pressure. She’s a great cook so I wasn’t worried at all; it was delicious!
This is no fail IF you get it in the fridge early enough! Jello not set right is sloppy and messy. Trust me, I know.
Jessica earned herself the position of Strawberry Pretzel Salad maker. Jessica, along with my daughter, Nancy make our pies. See Jessica’s Apple Pie here.
Rosemary Pretzel Salad
Ingredients
- Use 9x13 casserole dish
- Crust
- 2 - 2 ½ C crushed but not super fine pretzels
- 1 ½ sticks margarine or butter melted
- 2 T sugar
- Filling
- 8 oz fresh whipped cream or Cool Whip thawed
- 1 C sugar
- 8 oz cream cheese room temp
- Topping
- 1 lg or 2 sm strawberry jello
- 2 C boiling water
- 2 - 10 pkg frozen strawberries or 16 oz coarsely chopped fresh strawberries
Instructions
- Crust
- Crush pretzels into small pieces
- Melt margerine or butter
- Mix all ingredients together using a fork
- Pat into 9 x 13 dish
- Bake 8-10 min @ 375
- Cool completely
- Filling
- Beat cream cheese and sugar til fluffy
- Fold in cool whip or whipped cream
- Spread onto cooled crust
- Put in refridgerator while making strawberry jello topping
- Topping
- Dissolve jello in boiling water according to package directions
- Add strawberries
- Stir until strawberries are thawed and jello begins to congeal
- If using fresh, stir well smashing a few strawberries
- Pour evenly over chilled creamy filling
- Refrigerate for appx 4 hours
- Cut with sharp knife prior to serving
A perfect menu to make to start the summer! A perfect dish to add to your Thanksgiving menu! What are your classic Thanksgiving and other seasonal menus?
Have a blessed day!
I can relate! My family loves this and we have it at every holiday gathering! So yummy!
An oldie but goodie…delicious!
Linda, I have only had this dessert salad one time, and I would love to try your recipe and take it to our next family gathering. I’m happy to be featuring your post at Tuesday Turn About this week! Pinned!
Ah Thanks Julie! Hope everyone enjoys it
I’ve heard about this recipe and I’ve been wanting to try it—maybe I will for the holidays! 🙂
It looks and sounds so good, can’t wait to make it, thanks and have a blessed day.
I’d actually never heard of this recipe before I started blogging. It looks very good though, strawberries and pretzels. Yum!!
It’s a favortie especially for pot lucks
I fell in love with strawberry pretzel salad in the 80s when my grandmother served it to our family. I think she discovered the recipe in Southern Living. Who knows how many times I’ve either made or enjoyed this dish.
I first got it from a fellow teacher so long ago. Then after I lost it, called on Rosemary!
This is a classic and enjoyable every time
My family loves it!
This looks like a really interesting recipe.
An older one but delicious!
This is what we Brits call a fruit salad! I never used to like it as a child but now I love it – strange how tastes change! You’ve given me another one to try!
Funny how that is no where near what we call a fruit salad. I love learning about differnt cusines and practices in other cuntries! It’s one thing I miss about living overseas and working with multi-national colleagues.
I grew up on Jello and Jello salads, but my husband didn’t and I can’t sway him. So I never make it.
The jello kind of just holds the pretzels, sweetened cream cheese ans strawberries together. It’s actually the only jello dish I make.
This is always a classic! It looks delicious! Have a great weekend!
Never had a jello salad. I know!!! This may be my first!
I say let’s put this delicious food out at the salad table and the dessert table!! You can’t go wrong with have extra 🙂 Pinning!
Hi Linda,
We love a special jello salad for our big dinners and your Strawberry Pretzel Salad looks fabulous, we will really enjoy it. Thank you so much for sharing your special recipe with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you have a great week and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Thanks Miz Helen. Hope you do enjoy it at a big dinner. We sure do!
Serval years ago a friend brought this salad to a backyard picnic we had for Memorial Day. I remember loving it!! I will have to make it sometime! The sweet & the saltiness was awesome!
That’s an oldie but a goodie.
Sherry
Recipe has disappeared before I could see it.
It looks delicious. The saltiness from the pretzels seems like a perfect mix of sweet and salty.
My MIL made this once a long time ago and I loved it! It is a great retro recipe, and I agree, it’s not dessert, who eats pretzels for dessert, right? Ha!